Work Text:
Benson stared into Kipo's back from where she walked in front of him. He fidgeted with his fingers, digging dirt from under his nails. They’d been wandering the streets of Las Vistas for ages. With each step, the sense of dread in Benson's belly intensified. Ever since Kipo revealed her crush on him, he'd been contemplating revealing his sexual preference to Wolf as well. Kipo had promised to keep it a secret, which allowed Benson to come out on his own terms. Ever since then, he'd avoided thinking of how she’d react to him being gay, especially with how judgemental she'd been about Kipo being a mute. He wondered if she'd be upset with him for keeping it a secret. That, or she'd be grossed out. For the most part, he was afraid of her treating him differently.
Benson bit his lower lip and glanced back at the younger girl. She walked only a couple feet behind him, eyes darting from left to right in search of someone trying to sneak up on them. She held Stalky in a firm grasp as she searched her surroundings for any sign of movement. He could only hope that the feral girl wouldn't stab him. He wanted to be open with her, he really did, but he also didn't want to risk losing the weird little family they'd built together.
He took a deep breath. I should probably just get it over with, he thought to himself. He turned his head until Wolf caught his peripheral. He grimaced at her resting angry face. She looked tired, probably hungry as well. They hadn't eaten in a couple hours. Maybe it wasn't the right time to talk to her? Maybe I should wait…
Unbeknownst to him, Wolf noticed his continuous staring. She raised an eyebrow and cleared her throat. “What?” She crossed her arms across her chest.
Benson pulled at his shirt-sleeve. “Nothing! I just—”
“You're staring at me,” Wolf accused. “Why?”
There was no way Benson would get out of telling her. “I— I was gonna tell you that…” He trailed off, words stuck in his throat like glue.
“Spill it.”
"Well…” Benson inhaled deeply. “There is something that I have been meaning to tell you, heh.” Sweat trailed down his forehead as he punctuated his sentence with a nervous chuckle.
"So tell me," Wolf said.
The speech that Benson had prepared faded from his mind, leaving him with a jumble of words that refused to settle into a coherent sentence. He coughed. Why is my mouth suddenly so dry? Wolf tilted her head to the side, frowning harder the longer the silence went on.
“Well?” she prompted.
"I'm gay!" Benson blurted. His face turned into a shade of red as he faced the ground. Good job, Benson…
He waited for the outburst he'd expected, yet nothing came. A gentle breeze tickled his face and he slowly but surely directed his gaze toward Wolf. He expected her to look grossed out, angry, or at the very least surprised, but the expression he was met with contained only confusion.
"What's... Gay?" Wolf asked.
Benson wanted to slap himself in the face. He'd completely forgotten about the chance of Wolf not even knowing what being gay meant. He hadn't expected having to explain it to her — but then again, she was only ten and she'd lived by herself since she was five. He doubted that a pack of wolves whose goal was to eat her would have bothered to teach her.
Okay, I can do this. "So, being gay means that you like people who are the same gender as you,” Benson started, searching Wolf's face for any signs of negativity.
"Okay,” Wolf replied, expression as blank as a sheet of paper.
"And that means that I like guys. Romantically,” Benson added. He refrained from saying sexually, figuring that Wolf didn't need to know about that yet.
"Okay,” Wolf repeated before she shrugged. "Why do I need to know that?"
Oh gosh.
“In the old world, being gay wasn't as common as being straight, so gay people had to tell the people they knew for them to know,” Benson explained. He chose his words wisely, avoiding to mention that it wasn't as accepted either.
"No, I mean, why do I need to know who you're into?" Wolf clarified.
"When I took Kipo to Ratland on her birthday, she told me that she had a crush on her,” Benson revealed. “And—”
Wolf smirked. "And you thought that I did too?"
"I just wanted to make sure that you knew. Just in case."
Wolf snorted. "You think too highly of yourself.” She bumped his arm with her own and Benson chuckled.
"So, we're good?" he asked.
"Yeah."
Benson sighed in relief. The weight lifted off his shoulders like a cloud before dissipating into nothingness. Kipo's voice caught his attention and both his and Wolf's heads turned in her direction.
"Guys, we need to pick up the pace! Cappuccino said my parents' burrow was at least a day away!”
Benson met Wolf's eyes and they shared a smile. They picked up their pace until they were by Kipo's side. Now that Benson had come out to Wolf, he had nothing to distract him from saving Las Vistas, as well as the boy he'd laid his eyes on.